Instant Zen - Waking Up In The Present Trans. Thomas Cleary
Grand Master Yunmen said, “If you really have not yet attained, for now follow principle to gain discernment.” Students of Zen should also proceed in accord with principle, not being so presumptuous as to hope for something transcendental.
In general, students nowadays make phenomena into one extreme and principle into another extreme. This causes them to be physically and mentally uneasy. Why not have phenomena always conform to principle?
Without even talking about the phenomena of beginningless time, just consider the instant of conception, when there is a sudden change of the physical body and the material world; from that point on, all is phenomena.
Every diverse element in the conditional body is a phenomenon. Right now, how can you clear your mind of these phenomena so as to conform to principle?
wrrdgrrl: If I'm not mistaken, he's talking about how we literally create our reality (phenomenon) with our intentions (principle). Could it be this simple? (I almost typed "easy".) Simple but not easy. But why isn't it? There's more in this chapter about "attaining harmonization":
It is not a matter of just saying it and thereupon understanding; you must actually attain harmonization before you can realize this. Guishan said, “Phenomena and principle are not two; the real Buddha is suchness as is.”
How can "suchness" be realized in this moment?
Submitted November 16, 2018 at 07:51AM by wrrdgrrl https://ift.tt/2PYyhBT
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